Class Matters

Published in 2005 by The New York Times, Class Matters takes a look at the role social class plays in American life. The book examines how class, which is defined as the combination of income, wealth, education, and occupation, influences one’s prospects in a society that prides itself on being a land of opportunity. Telling tales of individuals in poverty and those with rags-to-riches stories and from middle-class families to the mega-wealthy, the book serves to illustrate how class disparities manifest themselves in everyday life. In doing so, it raises questions about the American dream and its future.

The book opens by introducing the notion that at one time in American society, class divisions were much clearer than they are today. Nowadays, most Americans enjoy some luxuries and vacations, and one cannot tell class based on clothing, car, or skin color. Some scholars even believe that the complexity of today’s society renders the concept useless. However, education, healthcare, and life expectancy are still strongly linked with class.

The notion of the upward mobility of the American dream and that which is presented in shows, such as American Idol and The Apprentice, is unrealistic. Additionally, globalization and the advent of advanced technology have closed factories that took individuals from the lower to the middle class. Furthermore, the loss of these jobs has deepened the divide between the rich and the poor. Marriages that cross lines of class are also on the decline.



Touching for a moment on religion, the book informs us that although they have remained roughly 25 percent of the overall population in the United States, evangelical Christians are continuing to raise their socioeconomic status and are nearing that of Protestants, partly due to the GI bill, which sent many evangelicals to college. As more are attending Ivy League schools, and a large portion of leaders in America comes from these schools, evangelicals’ impact is sure to be even greater in the future.

Next, the book examines trends in education. One out of three Americans currently drops out of college, and graduation rates are much lower for colleges that recruit poorer students. Thus, poor and working-class students have been falling behind wealthy ones at a time when having a college degree is of more importance than ever before. Furthermore, many high schools are doing a poor job of preparing low-income students for college, and the cost of tuition and student loan debt scare these families away from college. Ironically, due to the disproportionate rate of wealthy students, these individuals actually receive a higher percentage of financial age than their low-income peers.

As a result of globalization, six million jobs have been lost in the American economy, and the market value of these unemployed workers has declined drastically. Even employees without degrees who worked their way up to management positions in manufacturing companies have had little value to corporations seeking employees with higher education.



Assessing class based on appearance is no longer easy. Salaries have risen as prices have flattened, and credit is easily accessible. Gadgets like cell phones and PCs are now ubiquitous due to globalization and the introduction of cheap models. Relaxed credit standards and low-interest rates for mortgages as well as the emergence of the sub-prime lending industry have also elevated the middle class.

Touching for a moment on the ultra-wealthy, the book reveals that the important distinction between individuals with old money and the emerging “hyper-rich” is attitude. Whereas the class with old money is conservative in its spending due to fears that they will not be able to replace their funds, the new rich spend money lavishly. The very top of the economic ladder is represented by only 0.1 percent of total income earners, or 145,000 taxpayers, earning at least $1.6 million a year. This is the fastest growing income group in the United States.

In today’s society, pop culture teaches us that America is a classless society, whereas, in pre-World War II days, movies and books constantly reminded people of class divisions. Novels like Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy made the reader feel fear at the prospect of being at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. In many of the books, the worst fear of the characters was falling from economic grace. In Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country, Undine Spragg comes to New York from Kansas in the hopes of marrying her way into high society. The novel’s message is that new money looks like old money quite quickly, and double standards and deception are the basis of class structure.



Turning to issues of sex and race, the book asserts that marriage may allow a woman to escape poverty, but this is not enough. Mobility requires employment and income. Furthermore, whereas black was formerly synonymous with poor and white synonymous with middle class, today, the lines have blurred. However, race does continue to impact success, and many blacks earn less than whites and have no savings.

A sobering examination of rapidly increasing trends in American society, Class Matters offers an important take on the shifting sands of demographics and is quick to inform the reader that class is defined by much more than income. In doing so, it calls into question the very existence of the American dream in today’s world, causing the reader to ponder what the future of the United States will look like.